The Harvard program, started by Peterson in 1996, seeks to develop a scientific basis for school reform policy.
In his speech, Walker said Wisconsin has undertaken more education reform in the last 18 months than during the last 18 years. He said it’s important to admit a problem exists.
Education reform doesn’t tilt toward either political party, according to Walker. He said politicians on both sides of the aisle have tried to tackle various issues.
“It comes from risk takers,” he said.
The study put the United States behind 24 countries in terms of improvement on test scores. Walker said it is important to break down denial about the country’s standing academically. If all states were able to match student achievement growth of the top five states in the study, the U.S. would be leading the world, he said.
“We’ve done it before in so many areas, we can do it here,” Walker said.
Related: Wisconsin’s Achievement Stagnation: 1992 – 2011 and wisconsin2.org.
Raising standards and comparing Wisconsin students to the best in the world is long overdue.
Meanwhile, Madison’s new “interim” Superintendent seeks to add a “Chief of Staff”.